Chapter 599: Hidden Needles

Qi Xia listened to all of Di Hu’s experiences and couldn’t help but smile.

“Yang… Qi Xia, I messed things up…” Di Hu sighed. “I thought I had put together a team of seven people, but it fell apart in an instant.”

“Is that so?” Qi Xia raised an eyebrow. “I don’t think so.”

“Don’t think so?”

“They’ll come back,” Qi Xia said. “You haven’t messed up at all—in fact, you’ve integrated the team perfectly.”

“Ah?” Di Hu was a bit confused. “Qi Xia, have I really integrated it? I feel like I haven’t done anything… and I’m even suspicious that these people might betray me…”

“Relax, it was a bit challenging at first, but Tianma Shike helped us,” Qi Xia said calmly. “When they stand in their own game arena and see Tian Ji treating human lives like ants to slaughter at will, they’ll understand everything.”

“But that doesn’t seem right…” Di Hu blinked. “Seeing killing isn’t a big deal, after all, we Di Ji have to kill people too…”

“Is that so?” Qi Xia shook his head. “When you see that the people you’ve worked for years or even decades to kill, Tian Ji can achieve with just a fleeting thought, will you still think that way?”

“This…”

“What’s the point of killing? What’s the point of Di Ji?” Qi Xia sighed. “Are you becoming Tian Ji just to kill better?”

After hearing this, Di Hu pursed his lips, then slammed his hand on the table. “You’re right! Damn it! The more I think about it, the angrier I get!”

“Just wait and see—things will turn around tonight,” Qi Xia said. “You need to prepare tea and drinks for when those six people return.”

“Got it!” Di Hu nodded. “Qi Xia, with your words, I feel relieved… but…”

“What is it?”

“I mentioned it earlier… among our seven people, we can’t pick a leader. I thought Shehu Shu was smart enough, but you know his personality…”

“Yes, I understand completely,” Qi Xia nodded.

“We’re like a group without a head—no plan, no goal. We know we have to do something, but when I think about it, we can’t do anything,” Di Hu said helplessly, shaking his head. “Yang… Qi Xia, I get your instructions, but what exactly am I supposed to do?!”

Qi Xia listened and stroked his chin thoughtfully. It was an interesting question.

The other person understood his instructions, and he himself understood the path he had laid out.

But what was he supposed to do?

What should have been a conversation between two people now had an invisible version of himself standing between them.

Perhaps he shouldn’t be asking what he should do, but what the other should do.

Qi Xia replayed the whole situation in his mind and reached a rather unfortunate conclusion.

Based on his character as Bai Yang, he should have deliberately won over Di Hu’s loyalty to one day have Di Hu act as an inside agent on the Lieche to collaborate with him.

So, he must have invested a lot in Di Hu, but there was still a problem—

Putting all his hopes on an impulsive tiger like that clearly wasn’t his style.

He must have other backup plans… but who was that backup?

Was it Hei Yang?

Even if he wandered into this city by chance, no matter how long it took, there was a chance he’d run into Di Hu. If friction arose between them, Di Hu might realize he was Bai Yang, triggering a chain reaction that would activate all the paths he had laid.

But was his backup Hei Yang?

“No… putting all the eggs in a basket isn’t secure,” Qi Xia shook his head. “That’s not my style… I have other ‘backups’…”

After saying that, Qi Xia looked at the empty seat beside him.

The square table had four seats, and three were occupied.

On that empty seat, a phantom of Bai Yang suddenly appeared.

“Hei Yang isn’t the ‘backup’… right?” Qi Xia thought to himself as he looked at the phantom. “If our thinking aligns, you have another backup too, don’t you? One ‘bright needle’ and one ‘dark needle’, with all the other Zodiac signs involved in this matter just being the ‘threads’ strung together by those two needles.”

Xu Liunian and Di Hu watched as Qi Xia’s lips moved as if muttering to himself, and neither dared to speak.

“The real rebellion plan isn’t with Di Hu… and not with Hei Yang… that way, even if they’re caught, it’s fine—Tian She won’t be able to extract the plan,” Qi Xia said, closing his eyes and boldly guessing at the scheme his former self had set up. “Since you don’t even know which Zodiac signs I’ll mobilize… there’s too much uncertainty in this, so you couldn’t gamble on it. You’d choose a Zodiac sign that’s bound to get involved. As soon as Di Hu, the ‘bright needle’, moves, the other ‘dark needle’ will move too—but who is that person? And how would you notify them?”

Qi Xia opened his eyes and looked back at the Bai Yang phantom, which turned its head to gaze at him. After a few seconds, Bai Yang showed a contemptuous expression.

That contemptuous look made Qi Xia instantly understand everything. “So that’s it?… You have seven years of memories, so you’d naturally think I’m not as clever as you, and you might leave me a simplistic answer.”

Qi Xia stroked his chin, his own expression turning contemptuous. “But you don’t know that I’m stronger than before every time.”

Di Hu, Zodiac, rebellion.

Why Di Hu?

There were plenty of clever Zodiac signs—why not find a more reliable ally?

Was it just because Di Hu was loyal?

No, there had to be a more important reason.

Qi Xia’s eyes widened as the clue surfaced, and the Bai Yang phantom in front of him vanished into thin air.

“That’s it…” Qi Xia smiled. “It’s indeed a simplistic answer…”

“What? What answer?” The two beside him looked at Qi Xia in confusion.

“Because you’re Di Hu… so the momentum you create is bigger than anyone else’s,” Qi Xia said, drawing a horizontal line in the dust on the table. “As soon as you choose to act, it’s hard to keep it secret… all sorts of Zodiac signs will gather at your place, and there might even be fights…”

Qi Xia finished speaking and looked at the line he had drawn on the table.

If this was the Lieche, and the central point was Di Hu’s room, then the answer was obvious, wasn’t it?

The ‘dark needle’ would be safest buried here.

It was the “neighbor.”

“As soon as the ‘bright needle’ moves, the ‘dark needle’ will have to move upon hearing the noise. As for Hei Yang…” Qi Xia smiled, “he’s just the ‘thimble’ to protect the needles from harm.”